State closes Omaha day care after owner’s husband is charged with sexually assaulting a boy

An Omaha in-home day care has been shuttered by the state because the owner’s husband has been accused of sexually assaulting a boy there for years.

Debra A. Harrison, doing business as Deb’s Day Care at 8328 Bedford Ave., no longer is allowed to provide care for any children other than her own, the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services said Wednesday.

William Harrison, 62, has been charged with two counts of first-degree sexual assault of a child. He is listed in department records as the day care’s secondary caregiver.

Omaha police officers on Friday interviewed a boy at Project Harmony who said that William Harrison had been sexually assaulting him for four years, starting when the boy was 8 years old and ending about a week ago. The boy told police that Harrison performed oral sex on him and forced him to have oral and anal sex. The alleged assaults occurred at the home, the boy told officers.

The father of the boy said his son had attended the day care when he was younger.

“This has just been such an overwhelming deal as it is,” he said.

Officers spoke to Harrison at his home and he admitted to the assaults, according to a court affidavit.

The day care held a license for up to 12 children.

William Harrison is being held without bail. If convicted on either charge, he faces up to life in prison.